


Bright Blue Hair And A Sweet Left Hook

by PrincessAmericaChavez



Series: Critical Role Prompts [5]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - Normal Life, F/M, First Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 01:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13846932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessAmericaChavez/pseuds/PrincessAmericaChavez
Summary: Fjorester Modern AU:“I ain’t trying to hide nothing,” he tries, as his heel feels the sharp edges of the dock. They keep closing in. “I’m just doin’ my job here.”“Yes, well, maybe someone ought to remind you that, big guy. That you don’t really belong here.”One of them steps forward, getting up on his face.“You know,” a new voice comes from the shadows behind them, “technically, if it is three against one that is cheating, technically.”





	Bright Blue Hair And A Sweet Left Hook

Fjord doesn’t really mind working at the sailing club. He knows his way around boats thanks to his dad, and he finds physical labor to be good for the soul, it makes him feel peaceful and useful. Besides, the pay in a high-end club like this is much better than it’d be at, say, the docks. This way, he can pay a considerable amount of his college tuition. He promised his mother that he’d put study ahead of everything else. 

He tries to remind himself of all that on the bad days. Tonight, having to deal with a bunch of drunk entitled rich kids, for example. He’s not sure what he  _did_ to earn so much hatred for them. It might be that their parents seem to like him (keep calling him ‘son’ as they thank him for their help), or that he’s tasked with keeping their shenanigans under control when they are going overboard with their parties, or maybe it’s just that some people —people like  _them_ — need to remind others of the power they hold above them. Either way, he’s pretty damn tired of it. The teasing and name calling was one thing, but today is the fist time he’s really felt  _threatened._

There’s three of them and they reek of alcohol as they stagger towards him, bottles in hand. There’s no one around the club’s dock at this time of the night, and he was just running the last routine check of the boats were properly moored. It’s put him into a bad tactical position. He’s backed away from them as far as he can, but the dock is narrow and he’s finally reached the point where one more step backwards would make him fall in the water.

“Now, gentlemen, I don’t want any trouble,” he tries, again, raising his hands in surrender, not really expecting it to help. He really does mean it, though. As big as he may seem to others, he’s never been much of a fighter, he’s far more used to relay on his wits than his strength. Wits only go so far with assholes like this, though. 

“Did you hear that?” One of them laughs. “’Gentlemen’, hah! Who does this loser think he’s fooling?”

“Always so fucking proper, trying to hide he’s just another nobody,” another one laughs.

“I ain’t trying to hide nothing,” he tries, as his heel feels the sharp edges of the dock. They keep closing in. “I’m just doin’ my job here.”

“Yes, well, maybe someone ought to remind you that, big guy. That you don’t really  _belong_ here.”

One of them steps forward, getting up on his face. 

“You know,” a new voice comes from the shadows behind them, “technically, if it is three against one that is cheating, technically.”

All three of them turn around, startled by the arrival of the new girl. Fjord’s seen her before in college, he’s pretty sure she’s an art student. It’s hard to miss her, with the bright blue hair and her flowery dresses, and her sketchbook eternally under one arm. She sucks a blue lollipop as she approaches them, looking unnervingly calm. 

“Miss, there’s- there’s no need, it’s all under control,” he tries to intervene quickly.

“Yes,  _sweetheart,_ get lost,” one of them shoots back over his shoulder. 

“I mean, it’s still three against one and that is not fair,” she insists. 

It’s the first time he’s heard her talk and Fjord is surprised by the thickness of her accent. Probably not what he should be focusing on right now, though. 

“Look, weirdo,” the guy closer to her says, turning around to face her, “this is none of your business.”

“How do you know that? I have lots of business,” she sucks the lollipop with a smile and Fjord just feels a terrible dread for her. She has no clue what she’s walking into. 

“Hey, y’all, it’s fine, just let her be.”

He tries to push the one closes to him out of the way to get to the girl and- and what? Protect her? Yes, he realizes. It doesn’t go as expected. As he tries to move the boy out of his way, he feels him tense, and react by throwing a punch at him without a warning. It hits him straight on the cheekbone and makes him fall backwards into the water.

Disoriented by the pain and the sudden mouthful of sea water, for a second Fjord is legitimately afraid of drowning. Something, however, suddenly makes him feel very calm, like a voice in his head reminding him that he knows the sea too well for that, that this is  _his_ place. He manages to open his eyes under the water, find the bubbles going up and follow them to the surface. The chill night air hits his face and clears out the rest of the confusion. 

“No! Give it back!”

He rushes swimming to the docks as he hears the girl scream, and arrives just in time to see her trying to recover her sketchbook from one of the boys. She steps on the tips of her toes but still can’t reach it. And then, out of fucking nowhere, she throws a punch to the jerk’s face, with the hand that is still holding the blue lollipop. A single hit, and the boy drops to the floor unconscious. 

The other two guys yell, startled, then rush towards her. One of them checks on his fallen friend as the other grabs her by the arms and pulls her back. Fjord sees her struggle, both feet trashing without touching the ground, and suddenly remembers he should intercede. He doesn’t even think about what he’s going to do. He just pushes himself out of the water with both arms, gets his feet set and stalks forward.

“Let her go,” he demands, as his fist crashes against the boy’s jaw. He does let her go, but he doesn’t fall like the other did. Fjord can just hope that the punch hurt his face half as much as it hurt his hand. 

He turns around and gives the girl a look. “You okay, there?”

She nods, tense, then opens her eyes wide and shouts, “look out!”

He doesn’t hear the bottle breaking against the dock, but he sure feels the glass slashing his forearm as he tries to cover himself from it. He hisses in pain, but manages to grab the boy’s hand with his and, holding him there, deliver a second punch that finally knocks him out. 

The one still standing, suddenly realizing his disadvantage, tries to make a run for it.

“Where do you think you are going?” Jester calls after him.

Fjord sees her bend down quickly, grab one of the ropes and  _pull._ He’s not sure  _how_ in the hell, but she manages to trap the boy’s foot on a loop and somehow pulls hard enough to make him trip and fall forward. He doesn’t get back up.

After the battle, he is shaking a little. He can feel adrenaline pumping in his veins, as he tries to recover from the shock of the fight. He’s never been in a fight before. 

The blue haired girl walks over to the first boy and picks her sketchbook up from the ground. She then pulls a marker out of her hand and starts drawing something on his face: a mustache, Fjord realizes. Shocked as he is, he watches her walk to the other two, drawing a dick on one’s forehead and a pair of glasses on the other. She does so calmly, mechanically, as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world. 

“Hummm…” he finally manages to get out. “I- I suppose I should thank you for your help, Miss…”

“Jester!” She smiles back at him over her shoulder, as she finishes the third guy’s face paint. Her smile fades as she looks at him, though, and she jumps back to her feet. “You are bleeding!”

Fjord follows her sight and discovers that he is, in fact, bleeding quite a bit from the slash on his forearm. It’s not too bad, though, he’s gotten worse cuts while sailing. 

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not,” she shakes her head as she walks forward, searching her several pockets until she finds a piece of fabric. “I was going to use this for a project tomorrow….  _well,_ really it was for a prank… but you need it more,” she explains as she wraps it around his arm tightly. 

“Thank you, Jester,” he blinks down at her.

“You are welcome, Fjord.” 

“You know my name?”

“Of course! I’ve seen you around. My mom gets invited here a lot and some times at night she lets me come along, and then I see you. Also I see you in college, technically. I mean, from far away, but I did see you. You are very handsome, it’s hard to miss.”

“Oh- uh- I…” He clears his throat quickly, taken by surprise. “Uh, thanks.”

His choking seems to amuse her, as she sends him a big smile. Her hands are still wrapped around his arm, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. 

“You are not hurt, are you?” He asks, trying to change the subject.

“I’m okay. This guys were idiots but they weren’t very strong.”

“You seem very strong.”

“Thanks! I am!” She grins. One of her hands comes up to cup the side of his face and he flinches when her slender fingers reach the point in which he was hit. “You are gonna need ice for that. We should get some. I know how to break into the kitchen. I’ll even get some pastries!”

He blinks, unsure of how to react to that, but she doesn’t give him a chance to reply. 

“Besides, we should really really get out of here before someone sees us and they know we kicked this guys’s asses.”

“I heavily suspect they’ll be telling people either way,” Fjord sighs, mournfully. This was a good job while it lasted.

“They won’t tell them a small girl kicked their asses,” she laughs. “It’s not the first time I fight boys, I know what I am saying. And I will say you were with me the whole time, so they can’t blame you either.”

“Their parents are very powerful people, I don’t know that they will believe you.”

“You haven’t met my mom,” she says, still smiling widely. “Now, come on, you really need that ice and I really want those pastries.”

With a quiet chuckle, he follows her closely. He has a million questions at the moment, and the girl’s easiness with the whole thing is just the beginning of it.  He thinks of asking her who her mother is, or why did she help him, or where is she from. None of it sounds right, though, so instead he offers:

“I really like your hair.”

“Thank you! I do too!” She says, and something about her voice seems to bright up the night. “I think we should be good friends, Fjord.”

“Yeah,” he snorts a laugh, surprised by how natural it all feels suddenly. “Yeah, I think so too.”


End file.
